La Bourse et La Vie is a long restaurant of 2 rooms, one of which is quite small in the back of the restaurant. The tables are small and fairly close together. At lunch it was a small menu and a couple specials, all a la carté. The helpful staff spoke good English. All tables are set with slices of crusty bread and a plate of pickled radish pieces. We started with 2 of their first courses on the menu.
The leeks in vinaigrette were very tender and covered with roasted hazelnuts from Piémont. It was a really tasty dish.
We also tried the foie gras dotted with salt and pepper and served with some salad greens and sweet onions. It was a nice size portion and although mild it really came alive when eaten with the onions.
For a main course we had their duck special which was for two at 62 euros. The duck was really tasty but felt more like a portion for one. The kale was not cooked much as it generally is in the states, however it was delicious as it had soaked up some of the savory meat juices. The sliced breast was medium “rare” while the confit leg was fall-off-the-bone tender. All was covered in a perfectly crisped skin. The juices really made this dish – you didn’t want to waste a drop. It was served with Kabocha squash sitting on a pesto like sauce of herbs, cheese squash seeds and oil. The sauce was good but it overpowered the squash.
We finished with their dessert special, a poached pear with vanilla ice cream for 8 euros. The pear was perfectly soft, tender and incredibly sweet. The ice cream had a nicely strong taste of vanilla and was adorned with a couple crunchy pecan cookies that rated a double yum.
